The Commerce City Council set its tax rate in a called meeting Monday night, but the budget it supports is already in trouble, thanks to the closing of Louisiana-Pacific’s plant in Center.

“We’re looking at about a mill of taxes,” said City Manager Clarence Bryant.

In English, that means the closing of the oriented strand board plant will cost the city about $177,000 in profit from the sale of natural gas. That’s about the value of a mill of taxes.

LP is (was) the city’s largest natural gas customer. Although the city’s profit per unit (a unit is an mcf — 1,000 cubic feet of gas) is very small, the vast amount purchased makes it a major contributor to the city’s income from gas sales.

Essentially, LP’s closure means that the city’s General Fund will have about $177,000 fewer dollars per year. Profits from the gas and electric sales are transferred to the General Fund every year where they provide revenue for most city services, from the library to the police department. Typically, $850,000 to $900,000 per year is transferred out of the Gas Fund to the General Fund.